Written by Hanif Kureishi, Venus could be seen as a British version of Grumpy Old Men meets Pretty Woman. In the film, two ageing actors reduced to getting minor extra roles, Maurice (Peter O'Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips) have to entertain and support a young teenage grand-niece of Ian's called Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) when she is foisted upon them by an aunt.

Naturally both grumpy old men find it difficult at first to get one syllable out of a morose insecure naïve young girl embittered with a lot of anger who thinks she's God's gift and will walk into a job as a model.

In fact Great-Uncle Ian is driven to the point of exasperation very quickly - he detests many of Jessie's living habits and can't find a way to connect with her. Alcoholic Maurice is just the opposite. Free from family politics and faced with merely playing roles of corpses in TV dramas, he works his charm on young Jessie and soon he's wanting to enjoy a little physical contact with her and she's happily using him as her sugar daddy and beginning to gain newly won confidence in herself. Naturally the course of true love is rarely smooth as both of them are set to find out.

Venus is a wicked black comedy that allows Peter O'Toole and Leslie Phillips to have free reign with deliciously drawn down-on-luck jobbing actors in the twilight of their careers. Richard Griffiths also gets to enjoy a great cameo role as a friend of theirs who acts as referee to the verbal jousting that goes on between them in the local café.

Peter O'Toole gives a thoroughly memorable and hopefully Oscar-winning performance here as a flirtive old codger who still retains the charms and wherewithal of knowing how to appeal to the opposite sex.

Some have criticised the film feeling that the gulf in ages between Maurice in his 80's and Jessie in her late teens is too wide to contemplate, but there's an innocence about their friendship - a knowledge that they hit it off, but it's never going to be much more than that. It's fun if anything just to see the re-awakening of a glint in Maurice's eye and the way his pal Ian reacts on learning that Maurice has been fraternising with his young grand-niece.

You need to be aware that the odd 4-letter word decorates what is a particularly bright and funny script, mostly uttered from the lips of Leslie Phillips' grumpy old man Ian.

Director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Changing Lanes) directs with a touching grip on a sweet and endearing friendship which is fun to watch develop and if there's a message in the film, it's to show that generations can be crossed and monosyllabic Harry-Enfield like teenagers can be encouraged to come out of their shells.